Chapter 11 - Nature of Omnipresence
This fascinating chapter of 55slokas, known asvisvaroopa sandarsana yoga,Espial of the Universal Form, is about the character of the Supreme Spirit. Lord Krishna enables Arjuna to espy the All-encompassing Universal Form of the Supreme Spirit by granting him the required ESP. The descriptive nature of the State Supreme falls in the realms of Universal Vision.
Owing to the improbability of their being, s9-s14, make an amusing reading. S3 states that Krishna grants Arjuna the divine sight required to espy His Universal Form. Of course, the ESP that Vyasa granted Sanjaya (s75 ch.18) might have enabled him to monitor the goings on at Kurukshetra in order to appraise the blind king Dhrutarashtra about the same. Thus, only from Arjuna’s averments Sanjaya could have gathered that he was divining the Universal Form, which obviously was beyond his own comprehension. But s10 - s14 have him describe the Universal Form as though he himself was witness to the same, even before Arjuna utters a word about it. At the same time, the Lord made it clear in s52,
‘Ever craved gods ’n angels too
Just to behold what thee beheld’.
Thus, the Universal Form that was seen by Arjuna surely was beyond the scope of Sanjaya's ESP. Hence, s9-s14 that picture beforehand what Arjuna would witness later on are clear interpolations. Contrast this with the parallel situation in s50-s51, when the Lord reassumes His human form, but handled differently by Sanjaya.
The s29 which seeks to emphasize what was already pictured in s28, albeit with not so appropriate a simile, could be but an interpolation.
1
Thus spoke Arjuna:
Thy words compelling, Spirit about indwelling
Uttered in compassion, dispelled my delusion.
2
Besides I've heard, about Thy glories
Origins of beings, and how it all ends.
3
Thou art verily, what Thee aver
Wish I espied, form Thy Divine.
4
If Thou so feel, I’m worthy
Let me espy, Thy True Self.
5
Thus spoke the Lord:
Divine I let thee, divinity Mine
Of hues varied colours ’n kinds.
6
Find Adityas, twelve therein
Vasus eight, and Aswin twins
Rudras eleven ’n Maruts four-nine
Wonders umpteen none else seen.
7
May thou discern in My frame
Much more than thy thought would take.
8
Bestow thee that ESP
Helps which espy form Supreme
Beyond the pale of god’s own sight.
15
Thus spoke Arjuna:
In Thou find I
Brahma on lotus,
Gods and sages
Beings ’n serpents!
16
With no beginning
End none sighted,
Boundless find I
In Thee universe!
17
Find I blinding
Light that blazing
From Thy diadem